


These Four Walls

by tray_la_la



Category: No Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-14
Updated: 2010-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-06 07:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tray_la_la/pseuds/tray_la_la
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's so much that takes place within the four walls of a hospital. Harry and Draco are living proof.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Four Walls

~

** _May 31, 2005_ **

The mediwizard nodded. "Auror Potter."

The man's smile was warm, if a little pitying. Harry knew because it was the fourth such smile he'd received since arriving at St. Mungo's nearly an hour ago. Clearly, some hospital higher-up had alerted the entire staff that Harry Potter was not only in the building, but that he'd gone off his nut entirely.

Harry shook his head. At least he was feeling slightly better now. The effects of the calming draught had set in quickly – he suspected the Healer had slipped him an extra-strength dosage – but he'd still felt the need to get up and walk, to _do_ something.

Harry paused in the corridor and cast a Tempus Charm. Half eleven. Thirty minutes before he could reclaim James at the newborns' ward. Harry ended the spell with a grunt of frustration, noticing a moment too late the mediwitch exiting from the door a few feet ahead.

Smile number five.

Harry could only muster a stoic nod in return, and the way the witch's mouth turned up at the corners, her head tilting to the side in a further show of sympathy, made Harry want to scream. She turned and disappeared around a corner and the impulse faded.

Harry let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair before setting off in her path, continuing on his aimless tour of the hospital in an effort to kill time. He reached the end of the hallway and turned down the corridor opposite the one he'd seen the mediwitch take. No use testing the limits of his patience.

Harry pushed through a set of double doors into another identical hallway. And then another. And then another. After three more hallways, he decided to take every left turn he came upon, just to see if he'd recognise the corridor he'd started out in.

Five minutes later, Harry was beginning to suspect this was something of a losing battle when he heard voices close by, the sound echoing loudly in the relative quiet of the hospital. The voices were coming from a corridor up on his right, and so Harry planned to walk straight past until a flash of blond pulled him up short.

Harry turned and there, a few metres away, was one of the night Healers bent over a too-thin man nearly collapsed on top of one of the benches lining the hallway. His features still as familiar to Harry as they had been back at Hogwarts.

The Healer's wand worked in steady motions, and Harry took a moment to study what he could see of Malfoy's face. He looked worn and tired, but still young. Too young, somehow. Harry wondered if that's what he looked like in other people's eyes – just a boy. Merlin knew he didn't feel like one.

The Healer straightened and said something to Malfoy that Harry couldn't make out. Malfoy nodded but didn't look up, and after a moment's pause the Healer turned and walked away. Harry was halfway down the corridor before he'd even made the decision to move.

Malfoy was still slumped over on the bench, rubbing absentmindedly at his shoulder when Harry finally reached him. He didn't look up, so Harry just plopped down beside him, letting his head fall back against the wall and noticing for the first time how heavy it felt. He'd never taken well to calming draughts.

They sat there like that for long minutes, neither saying a word, Malfoy still rubbing at his shoulder. Finally, Malfoy spoke. "Come to gloat, then." It wasn't a question.

Harry turned to face him, but Malfoy still had his head down, his eyes fixed on some spot Harry was sure he wasn't really seeing. "Gloat about what, exactly?"

Malfoy slowly sat up and Harry gasped as his face came fully into view for the first time. Livid bruises ran up and down the left side of Malfoy's face, sticky and wet looking from whatever salve the Healer had applied, and there was a bright red spot under his eye that meant a recently performed _Episkey_.

Malfoy's eyes searched Harry's face, narrowing for a second before he turned away again. "So, not here to gloat. Might as well though, now that you're here."

Harry couldn't speak for a moment. The resignation in Malfoy's voice was almost as startling as the bruises. "Who did that to you, Malfoy?"

Malfoy laughed and it sounded painful. "Don't worry, Potter. There's no dark wizard on the loose you'll need to run out and apprehend. Your loyal admirers have done the job for you."

Harry shook his head and tried to focus on something other than the bruises he could still make out along the edges of Malfoy's profile. "Are you-" Harry could barely say the words. "Are you saying _Aurors_ did this to you?"

Malfoy sighed. "No, Potter, not Aurors. Just a few good Samaritan's doing their part to rid the world of the remaining Death Eater scum."

Harry wanted to assure Malfoy that there _wasn't_ any remaining Death Eater scum, but he bit his tongue. Lucius Malfoy had died sometime last week. _Azkatraz prison released the body to his family for services,_ Harry remembered reading in the _Prophet_.

"Malfoy-"

"Don't, Potter." Harry fell silent, though every part of him screamed for him to do _something_ other than sit there and add to the picture of helplessness Malfoy made slumped over beside him.

"So what's our almighty Saviour doing lurking around the hospital in the middle of the night, anyway? Trying to avoid your fans?"

Harry could've laughed at how heartened he felt to hear some of the old vitriol creep back into Malfoy's voice. "It's stupid, really," he said, feeling foolish for getting so worked up after seeing Malfoy's injuries. "My son, James, he started coughing and turning red in the face and I just- I panicked." Harry let out a shaky breath, feeling a small current of fear rush through him, as though it were happening all over again. "Ginny's away with the Harpies, and I don't... I didn't know what to do."

Harry looked away. He felt exposed all of a sudden, and his shoulders tensed as he waited for Malfoy to say out loud what Harry had been thinking all evening.

"What's it like?"

Harry looked up. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. "What's what like?"

Draco shifted to face him again and Harry' eyes automatically darted to the bruises. "Being a father. What's it like?"

Harry couldn't have stopped the smile that split his face for anything. "It's- I can't describe it. It's the most incredible thing that's ever happened to me."

Draco huffed a small laugh, and Harry felt his hackles raise until he saw the small smile tugging at Malfoy's mouth. "That's certainly a ringing endorsement, given the number of incredible things that have happened to you, Potter."

Harry closed his mouth. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. He'd never considered anything he'd been through incredible. Certainly not the way that James was. Not even close.

They sat quietly as Harry tried to think of something to say. Something that would do justice to the last month of his life. Finally, he turned to Malfoy and said, "It makes everything worth it."

Malfoy met his eye, and he looked more earnest than Harry would have ever given him credit for. "Yeah?"

Harry smiled. "Yeah, Malfoy. It does."

~

** _May 5, 2006_ **

 

Harry laughed as the mediwitch shooed him from the viewing room. "Now, now, Auror Potter," she tutted. "The boy needs his rest. I'll take good care of him. You just get back to your wife before she tries to up and leave like the last time."

Harry laughed again, remembering how a few hours after James' birth Ginny had thrown aside the bed linens and demanded her trousers. "You're probably right. Thank you, Mediwitch Bell."

"It's Bronwyn, please," she scolded as she closed the door on Harry. Harry just smiled. The old mediwitch had been there for the births of both of his sons, and she insisted on personally looking after them in the newborn ward. Harry stalled for another minute, watching through the glass as Mediwitch Bell bustled from bassinet to bassinet, tucking in stray blankets and adjusting Temperature Charms until she finally reached Albus. She smiled down at him as she straightened the wreath of garland she'd hung from the top of the bassinet. An Irish blessing of luck, she'd told Harry.

Harry pressed his hand to the glass and wished his son goodbye before making his way back to Ginny's hospital room. Hopefully, most of the fussing was out of Molly's system by now and he'd be able to get a word in to see how Ginny was feeling.

Harry was nearly there when he saw a familiar head of blond hair bent over one of the drinking fountains. He stopped and hesitated, looking between Malfoy and the door to Ginny's hospital room just a few metres up ahead. He crossed the hall toward Malfoy.

Malfoy's back was still turned as Harry approached, and Harry's mind flashed to that night almost a year ago, to Malfoy's bruises, and the not so subtle statement Harry had made to the papers the next day about how vigilantes attempting to take justice into their own hands would be prosecuted under the full force of the law.

He felt almost anxious as he laid his hand on Malfoy's shoulder.

Malfoy spun around too fast and Harry was immediately struck by the furious red splotches patterned up and down his neck. He looked even paler than usual, though not as thin as the last time Harry had seen him, and his eyes were framed in dark circles.

As soon as Malfoy's face registered recognition, his hand shot out and closed vise-like around Harry's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

Harry knew something must be very wrong if Malfoy looked this distraught, but Harry tried to reassure him. "No, no, everything's fine, Malfoy," he said, steering them to a set of chairs lining the corridor. "Just take a seat; you look like hell."

Malfoy went stiffly but willingly, his body refusing to relax even after he'd sat down. Harry sat beside him and prepared to wait. Mafoy's head hung limply between his shoulders and Harry thought he looked even worse than he had on the night he'd been attacked.

It was only a moment later that Malfoy spoke. "Astoria," he began brokenly. Harry was confused for a moment until the name registered. Astoria. Malfoy's wife. Harry remembered reading about it in the _Prophet_, feeling pleased that things finally seemed to be turning around for Malfoy.

"She-" Malfoy's voice cracked and he paused to take a breath. "She's not due for another month, but last night she started having these pains. The Healers say she'll have to stay on bed rest until the delivery. We almost lost him." Malfoy's head fell forward onto his chest and Harry could practically see the last of whatever it was that was holding him together drain right out of him.

Malfoy let his elbows drop to his knees and he cradled his head in his hands. After a moment's deliberation, Harry laid a hand on Malfoy's shoulder and squeezed, relieved when he felt Malfoy sway into him slightly.

Harry lost track of how long they sat like that before Malfoy finally turned to him, his head still in his hands. "My son," he said, and the sound was so desperate Harry felt something inside of him break.

He squeezed Malfoy's shoulder again. "It'll be fine, Malfoy. I'm sure of it."

Malfoy gave him what could almost have been called a grateful smile. "Thanks, Potter."

~

** _May 7, 2008_ **

"Thanks very much," Harry said, taking the scroll of parchment from the mediwitch behind the counter.

"Not a problem, Auror Potter." The mediwitch smiled. "Congratulations again."

Harry beamed back at her. It had become something of a permanent condition these last few days. "Thanks," he said, stepping away from the counter, before he remembered what else he'd been sent to St. Mungo's to retrieve. "Sorry, where was it you said I could pick up those potions?"

"At the Apothecary window," the mediwitch replied. "Take your second left after entering the newborn ward."

"Right, great. Thanks again." Harry stepped back from the counter and turned in the direction of the newborn ward. He hadn't taken two steps before he spotted Draco Malfoy leaning up against a wall across the room. Harry should've been surprised, but part of him had almost expected this.

Malfoy looked severe in formal business robes, and Harry let out a small sigh of relief when he couldn't spot any visible injuries. He didn't hesitate to cross the room this time.

"Malfoy," Harry said, the relief from a minute ago vanishing at the sight of the deadened look on Malfoy's face.

"My mother died last night," Malfoy said immediately, his voice toneless and his face blank, eyes staring straight ahead into nothingness.

Something squeezed painfully in Harry's chest and he took a step forward. He was overwhelmed by a sense of _unfairness_ like he hadn't felt since he was at Hogwarts, and he had to gather himself for a moment before he could speak. "Malfoy, I'm sorry. I-"

"I tried. I really did," Malfoy said, and Harry fell silent. He was practically choking on the taste of his own helplessness, but he knew he needed to just shut up and listen to whatever it was Malfoy had to say.

"I tried so hard to redeem the family, to make things better for Mother. I found decent work, respectable, even. It's mostly been abroad, but still. Things had been going well. But it was never enough. And now she's gone, and no one will ever know that she was... That she didn't deserve this. None of it."

Harry suddenly remembered the scroll of parchment clutched in his grasp, and he felt almost dizzy with relief that he could finally _do_ something. He held it out to Malfoy wordlessly. The parchment had crumpled in his fist while he'd been listening to Malfoy's speech, and he absently wondered how much trouble he'd be in with Ginny.

Malfoy stared down at Harry's extended hand for a few moments before finally taking the scroll. He slowly unrolled the parchment and Harry held his breath without meaning to, watching Malfoy's face and knowing the exact moment Malfoy read the words that Harry knew were written there.

Lily Luna Narcissa Potter

 

Lily's birth certificate. It had been forgotten in all the excitement over bringing her home from the hospital three weeks ago, and Ginny had finally sent Harry to fetch it.

Malfoy still hadn't looked up from the scroll. "I don't understand," he whispered.

"I've never forgotten," Harry said. "And I know she didn't deserve it, Malfoy. Any of it."

~

** _May 1, 2018_ **

Harry's head hurt. _Badly_. That much was clear. The shouting most certainly was not helping; that was another definite.

Harry desperately wanted to tell whoever it was to _shut the hell up_, but he couldn't seem to get his mouth to work. After several failed attempts, he gave up and tried to focus on the voices. With any luck, he'd at least be able to figure out why it felt like he'd been caught on the wrong end of about a dozen bludgers.

"I understand that you're concerned, sir, but I need to secure _my_ patient before I allow anyone to see him."

Harry tried to smile but his mouth wouldn't let him. He knew that voice. Even going on 150 years old, Mediwitch Bell was still tough as nails.

"Well, he _looks_ stable to me, so if you'd just _please_ step aside."

Harry knew _that_ voice even better, though he couldn't fathom why he'd be hearing it now.

The yelling continued unabated and Harry's head hurt trying to keep up with the thread of the argument. Sleep was tugging at the edges of his consciousness and he reasoned that a nap was the surest remedy for his current predicament, since his voice still wasn't in working order. He'd figure everything out later, he was sure.

The first thing Harry noticed when he came to was that his head felt infinitely better. The second was the rhythmic back and forth of fingertips across the back of his hand, and he knew without looking exactly to whom those fingers belonged. The shouting earlier had been a bit of a giveaway, but Harry was one hundred percent confident he'd have known in any event. It was just one of those things he was sure of.

He kept his eyes closed and his breathing even, as he was equally sure that the touching would end the second Malfoy knew he was awake, and he wasn't quite ready for that.

Harry concentrated on the soft brushes of skin against skin and before long he felt himself being pulled into sleep again. He surreptitiously bit the inside of his cheek and willed himself to hang onto wakefulness for a little while longer. This was only the second time he'd run into Malfoy in the last ten years, and he had no idea when the next time would be.

Admittedly, the first was still vivid in Harry's mind. It had been about sixth months ago, while seeing Albus off to Hogwarts for the first time. Things had been tense between him and Ginny, but they were managing. They were a family, first and foremost.

Harry had been catching up with Ron while the kids reunited with their cousins, and he remembered feeling relieved that things were far less awkward than he'd feared when Ron pointed Malfoy out, standing amongst the other parents on the platform. Harry had turned and caught Malfoy's eye and the two of them had shared a fleeting look, as though the strange intimacy they maintained whenever their paths crossed at St. Mungo's couldn't be acknowledged anywhere else.

But Harry had _wanted_ to acknowledge it, to talk to Malfoy. He'd wanted to ask about Malfoy's divorce, which had been all over the papers the year before with a great deal less fanfare than Harry's, but still enough to sting. He'd wanted to ask about Malfoy's son, who took as much after Draco as Albus did him. He'd wanted to ask if Malfoy agreed that it was all worth it, even after everything. But after a quick nod, Malfoy had turned back to his son and that seemed to be that.

Harry had watched him out of the corner of his eye until right before the train pulled away. A few times, Malfoy's gaze wandered to where Lily was playing with her cousin Hugo across the platform, and Harry knew that Malfoy was thinking about that night in the hospital ten years before, right after Narcissa's death. Harry thought of it more than was probably wise.

The fingertips left Harry's skin without warning and he became dimly aware that his mouth had twisted itself into something like a half smile.

"Potter." It was barely a whisper. He must be in bad shape, then.

Harry cracked one eye open to find Malfoy leaning in close, peering at him with a pinched, worried look on his face. It was a look Harry could recall far too easily among all of his memories of Malfoy.

"Watch it, Malfoy. If Mediwitch Bell catches you fussing over me, you'll never hear the end of it."

Malfoy looked uncomfortable for a moment, as though he hadn't for one second planned on being caught keeping vigil by Harry's bedside. Then his mouth quirked into a wry smile. "That bloody woman. I had to fight her tooth and nail to get in here."

Harry huffed out a laugh and immediately regretted it when the dull pain in the back of his head flared to life. "Be nice. That woman has delivered every one of my babies." Harry knew that if he hadn't been badly busted up and in the hospital he wouldn't have gotten more than a raised eyebrow in response, but it still felt good when Malfoy smiled back at him indulgently. "Not to mention that she could easily take you down, Malfoy."

Malfoy laughed, and whatever the hell Harry had been through suddenly seemed completely worth it. Speaking of which- "What the hell happened to me, anyway?"

Malfoy's face turned serious again. "Ambush during a mission. You got hit with something nasty. That Bell woman didn't even know what it was. No permanent damage though," he finished quickly.

Harry nodded. That was all he really needed to know. Kingsley would fill in the rest. "So, what are you in for?" Harry wasn't aware of how his muscles had tensed until Malfoy's expression turned proud and Harry felt himself relax. Given their track record in this place, he couldn't really blame himself.

"Meeting with the Board of Directors. The wizarding bank I work for trades primarily in the European markets, and we've just convinced St. Mungo's to invest with us."

Harry smiled. "That's great, Malfoy. Really."

Malfoy seemed to catch hold of his excitement and his face smoothed. "Thanks, Potter." They held each other's gaze for another moment until it became too much and they both looked away.

Harry's eyes fell to the end of the bed. He saw the May bough draped over one of the bedposts and smiled. "Have dinner with me, Malfoy."

Malfoy's head whipped up from where he'd been staring at the floor. "Pardon?"

"I said have dinner with me." Harry's smile widened. "Not here though. The cafeteria food's rubbish."

Malfoy laughed and Harry realised it was a sound he'd heard far too little of. "Sure, Potter. Why not?"

~

** _May 31, 2020_ **

"James, slow down!" Harry bellowed as James tore past him down the corridor. "What did we discuss about running inside the hospital?" James skidded around a corner without looking back.

Draco chuckled. "Nice, Harry. Very effective."

"Oh, shut up, you," Harry grumbled. He looked over his shoulder to check that the rest of the gang was still in tow, satisfied that they were close behind and causing only a minimal amount of trouble.

Albus was bouncing his shoulder against the wall as he walked, attempting to knock Lily over on the rebound. She just managed to remain upright by clutching onto Scorpius, who was too busy looking around to take much notice of the situation. Harry smiled and reached for Draco's hand, glancing over to find him wearing a full-on smirk. "What?" Harry asked defensively, feeling his cheeks heat a little. He pulled Draco closer anyway.

Draco just shook his head. "Nothing," he whispered, brushing a kiss across Harry's check.

"Damn right," Harry mumbled and Draco laughed, giving Harry's hand a squeeze. They turned down the last corridor to find James already waiting by the door to their final destination, which was covered in wizarding drawings and marked with what had to be the largest May bough in Britain. Harry and Draco ushered the kids inside.

"Harry, Draco!" Mediwitch Bell exclaimed as they wrestled their way through the doorway. "Finally, I get to meet your whole brood. Now, let me get a look at the new one." The three Potters pushed Scorpius forward.

Mediwitch Bell chuckled. "No need to be nervous, son," she said, as she reached up into a cabinet and pulled a strand of garland from what seemed to be a never-ending supply. She wound it in her hands and tied off the ends, placing the wreath on top of Scorpius' head. "You're part of the family now." Scorpius smiled, but his cheeks burned bright red under the attention.

"Now." She clapped her hands together and turned to the group. "Who's up first? James?" James' eyes went huge and he ducked behind Harry, shaking his head.

"I don't want to go first! Make Al go!"

Harry chuckled. "Come on, James. You're the only one keeping the Gryffindor courage alive. You can't be nervous over a vaccination spell."

Mediwitch Bell tsked. "You should be grateful, young man. Your fathers are generously taking you all on a family vacation after their Handfasting. I'd say a vaccination spell is a small price to pay."

James shot Harry a dirty look and tucked his arms across his chest. "They make me nauseous. Besides, I don't see why I even need one. I already got all my spells at the start of the term."

Lily smirked over at James – a trait Harry was certain she had picked up from Draco – and climbed up onto the exam table. "Well, _I'm_ not afraid, Mediwitch Bell," she said smugly, rolling up the sleeve of her robe.

James slipped into a full-on sulk and Harry elbowed Draco in the ribs when he didn't quite cover up his laugh, rolling his eyes at Draco's well-practised look of innocence. He looked over Draco's shoulder and motioned to where Albus and Scorpius were trying to pry the cork from a jar of what looked suspiciously like frog's eyes. Draco dove for it before they could get it open, and Harry allowed himself a chuckle of his own when the two boys yawed exaggeratedly throughout Draco's recitation of the Slytherin code of conduct. It was a speech Harry had become intimately familiar with over the last two years.

Two more recitations of the code of conduct and an hour and a half later, everyone, including James, had got their vaccination spells. The kids ran ahead to wait near the exit, while Harry and Draco thanked Bronwyn and collected the list of potions they'd need for the trip, before slowly following in their path. Albus still managed to get lost one out of every three Floo attempts, so Harry was in no rush.

"So, Potter. What do we do now?" Draco asked.

"Hmm," Harry began teasingly. "How about begin the rest of our lives together?" He looked over at Draco and he suddenly remembered that first night in the hospital what felt like a lifetime ago. He still thought Draco looked like no more than a boy in the right light.

Draco smiled and reached for Harry's hand. "Sounds good. But not here though."

"No," Harry said, lacing Draco's fingers with his. "Not here."

~


End file.
